We will act on your request by the end of the third business day after we receive it. If we need more than three business days, we will notify you.

To request an arrest warrant affidavit or sworn testimony, use forms provided by the Kansas Judicial Council. These requests are not subject to the Kansas Open Records Act, they take more than three days, and they require court approval.

Records Available

Many records maintained by Kansas courts are open for inspection. More commonly requested records include:

court case files and transcripts

final judgments from civil and criminal cases

court budgets

certified oaths of office

Records NOT Available

For a comprehensive list of records that are exempt from disclosure under the Kansas Open Records Act, see K.S.A. 45-221. Other records may be exempt by judicial rule, order, or case law. More commonly requested records that are NOT available include:

adoption records

certain criminal investigation records

expunged criminal records

many child in need of care and juvenile records

grand jury proceedings

personal information about public employees

What We CAN'T Do

No court employee may conduct a search that requires making a legal determination, like whether a judgment is current or a lien exists. Court staff also will not prepare a report or create a record to satisfy your request if that document does not already exist. We also can't fill requests for bulk data, such as "all judgments in eviction cases last year." For compiled data, we recommend you refer to our annual case management statistics.

Denied Requests

It's possible your request may be denied in whole or in part. If it is denied, we will identify generally the records you are denied and the specific legal authority for the denial. Common reasons requests are denied include:

record does not exist

record is not maintained by office where request was made

request is unclear and must be resubmitted

record is closed under exceptions recognized in KORA, like those listed in KSA 45-221

Requesting a Record

Court records relating to a specific case must be requested from the court that processed the case. When you ask for records from a district court, the records custodian is likely to be the court clerk. Contact information for district courts is available on the the Kansas District Courts page by selecting the county where the court is located from the dropdown menu under the Find Your Court heading.

You will be charged reasonable fees for staff time and expenses related to processing your records request. Supreme Court Rule 1.03(h) authorizes the judicial administrator to establish fees for open records requests, and current fees are shown below. District courts may assess fees that are higher or lower. You may be required to pay the estimated cost before your records request is processed.

Fees Established by the Judicial Administrator

Copy and Transmittal Costs

25 cents per page for copies

$10 per document certified

50 cents to mail first five pages and 25 cents for each additional five pages

50 cents per page to fax with a limit of 15 pages

Document Preparation

$20 per hour, charged in quarter-hour increments, for records custodian and clerical employees

$60 per hour, charged in quarter-hour increments, for professional employees

If an official records custodian determines help from a third party is needed to respond to a records request ?such as a request that requires reviewing or producing electronic records ?the third party's charges for that help may be imposed.